Skip to main content

AI Crochet Images and Patterns

 The Rise of AI in the Art World What do you think of this image? It's very pretty at first glance, isn't it? Does it make you immediately want to seek out the pattern to make them yourself? You're not alone. I took this image from a random page on Facebook that showed up on my newsfeed. I have no idea who originally made it. It's being shared by pages that appear to be run by bots, as the caption is always the exact same.  So What's the Problem? The problem is these crochet parrots are not real. That is not real crochet. The photo is generated by AI. How can you tell? Firstly, they are too perfect. Creating crochet birds that could sit like that on a perch without falling over would be challenging. The direction of some of the stitches doesn't make sense. If you zoom in, you can see the stitches on the head especially do not look like crochet stitches. The yellow feathers on the left bird's head look like real feathers, which you wouldn't be able to rep...
Post a Comment

Let's Talk About Yarn Types: Cotton Yarn

 Yarn Types: Cotton Yarn


Cotton yarn is one of my favourites to work with. It is less prone to splitting and fraying, and it gives good stitch definition. It has many applications and can be dyed in any colour you like. It also comes in different weights and thicknesses, for any project. Mercerised cotton absorbs dyes better and has a bit of a sheen to it, while non-mercerised cotton is duller and more matt.

What is Cotton Yarn Best for?

Cotton yarn has wide applications, it is durable and can be machine washed, making it suitable for baby items, blankets and clothing. It isn't as warm as wool and acrylic, so it is useful for lighter summer clothing. It has a soft feel to it, and is comfortable on the skin and breathable. It holds water well, and works nicely for washcloths and face scrubbies, which I have a YouTube tutorial for here.

I like making flowers with it, the stitch definition really makes the designs pop. Such as my free daffodil pattern, here. It also looks nice for amigurumi products and things like keychains. I used Hobbii's cotton yarn to make my adorable rainbow and fruit slice keychains. 










Pros Of Cotton Yarn

  • Easy to work with for beginners - stitch definition is clear, making it easy to crochet with
  • Light and breathable, comfortable for clothing and baby items
  • Durable and washable, lasts a long time and suitable for clothing and blankets
  • Dyes well meaning it comes in a huge range of colours
  • Relatively cheap compared to wool natural fibres

Cons of Cotton Yarn

  • Darker colours can bleed when wet and being washed
  • Holds water and becomes heavy when wet which risks misshaping.
  • Not stretchy, which may affect its uses in clothing and knitting tension can be difficult to maintain.
  • It can be slippery, so may not be suitable for making socks or slippers
  • The slippery aspect can make knitting more challenging as it is prone to sliding off needles 
  • Unless you buy organic cotton, there is a potential issue with pesticides as a plant based fibre

What Do You Think?

Have you used cotton yarn before? Do you like it? For me, I'm a fan. I've made keyrings and flowers with it. I've also made face scrubbies and washcloths with it which work really well for me. You can replace the disposable cotton wool pads with the reusable face scrubbies to reduce the environmental impact. I'd love to know what you think of it. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hello! Welcome to the FelisSilvestris Crochet and Craft Blog

 Hello and Welcome! This is a blog to accompany my main website with all my crochet and craft escapades. I hope it'll be interesting for you all to read. So, what can you expect to find on this blog? Crochet tutorials Free Crochet Patterns General updates about new products and upcoming sales Reviews of new products like yarns, hooks etc Other crafty topics I hope you'll join me for all of these. I aim to post at least two or three times weekly, possibly more when there's news to share. Feel free to join in in the comments to chat, ask questions or anything else!  This is quite a short post, but there will be plenty of awesome content to come soon, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, my about page on here will have a few links, so you can find me on social media, visit my Etsy shop and visit the main website.  Happy Crocheting!  Love, Felis Silvestris
Post a Comment
Read more

Crochet Basics Part 2 - Introducing New Stitches

  Crochet Basics Part 2 Hi, welcome back. This is part 2 of my crochet basics series introducing crochet and teaching you how to get started. In the first part we went over the basics of beginning a piece of crochet, the slipknot, the chain stitch, double crochet (single crochet in the US) and how to fasten off at the end. Today we're going to cover a couple of new stitches you can use for different textures. The half-treble and treble crochet stitches are fairly easy to work. These stitches are taller than the double crochet. You'll see what I mean.  Half-Treble Crochet (htr) Half-treble is between double and treble crochet in height. It is worked very similarly to a double crochet, the difference is you wrap the yarn around your hook before pushing it into the next stitch, then you pull the yarn through, pulling up another loop. This leaves three loops on your hook instead of two. You wrap the yarn around the hook again and pull it through all three loops together. That's...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fast Fashion vs Slow Fashion

 Fast Fashion and Making Ethical Choices Let's talk about fast fashion and crochet items that are available for sale. A lot of companies like SHEIN and Temu are selling crochet items for really cheap prices. I saw a crochet top made up for five large granny squares with straps and tassels that definitely look crocheted although it's hard to see clearly. The top is being sold for £7.49, and from the look of it it would take me a good 3-4 hours to make by hand. I'm not the slowest crocheter, nor am I the fastest.  Why is this a problem? Well, even if you ignore material costs, and if we give a generous estimate of 3 hours to make. we're looking at £2.50 per hour, except you have to assume that the company intends to make a profit as well, so it's likely that the person making these items is being paid much less per hour to hand make these items.  As we discussed last week, crochet cannot be replicated by a machine, so if these items are truly crochet, then whoever is ...
Post a Comment
Read more